Chapter 243: Chapter 178: Paper Maiden
Late at night, Li Banfeng sat with Ma Wu, and by Ma Wu’s side lay the Straw Moth Lady.
Despite Ma Wu’s endless praise for the Straw Moth Lady, Li Banfeng still felt the urge to flee for his life.
"Brother, don’t worry," Ma Wu said. "This Straw Moth Lady isn’t like the one we encountered before. She’s a gentle person."
While speaking, Ma Wu gently caressed the Straw Moth Lady’s body. She shivered, her expression fearful as she said, "Little Brother, you can do whatever you want with me tomorrow, but I really can’t handle it today."
Ma Wu looked at the Straw Moth Lady with slight dissatisfaction. She wore a look of grievance and said, "I truly can’t handle it."
Li Banfeng looked at the Straw Moth Lady and said, "If you can’t handle it, then just leave."
Her cheeks flushed, the Straw Moth Lady lowered her head and said, "I don’t want to leave."
Ma Wu’s natural talent really is unreasonable. This Straw Moth Lady could defeat a hundred Ma Wus, but just because she was reluctant to make a move, she simply allowed Ma Wu to bully her.
With a sigh, Ma Wu said, "It’s not all talent. In the end, it’s all about fate. If it had been the previous Straw Moth Lady, I would have lost my life long ago."
Hearing Ma Wu keep mentioning someone else, this Straw Moth Lady seemed a bit displeased. "Little Brother, you always talk about the previous one. Is the one you’re talking about named Linglong?"
Linglong? The Straw Moth Lady has a name? Li Banfeng stared at the plump Straw Moth Lady for a moment longer. The name Linglong really didn’t suit her at all!
"Her name is Linglong?" Ma Wu seemed quite interested. "What’s your name?"
With a shy face, the Straw Moth Lady said, "I’m called Yanzi."
She’s called Yanzi... Li Banfeng took a deep breath and looked up at the sky, imagining what this enormous Yanzi would look like flying up there.
Ma Wu touched the Straw Moth Lady’s cheek. "Yanzi, this is destined fate. You were meant to fly into my heart."
Li Banfeng shuddered. How big a heart would that require?
As Ma Wu flirted, he also probed for information. "You just mentioned Linglong. Did you two know each other before?"
Yanzi was displeased. "Why do you bring her up again?"
"I’m just curious."
"Of course, I know her. We were from the same Taoist Sect and even cultivated together. Linglong just moved here this year. I came here to look for her, but despite searching for several days, I haven’t found her."
Of course you won’t find her. She dropped by the Portable Residence and will never come out again.
But Li Banfeng was not concerned about Linglong; he was more interested in the Taoist Sect. "You have a Taoist Sect?"
"We do," Yanzi earnestly replied. "We were all originally Bitter Cultivators."
Li Banfeng became even more curious. "When you say ’we,’ do you mean you and Linglong, or all Straw Moth Ladies?"
Yanzi responded, "All Straw Moth Ladies were Bitter Cultivators. Only through Bitter Cultivation can one become a Straw Moth Lady."
Bitter Cultivators turned into Straw Moth Ladies?
Li Banfeng realized the Straw Moth Lady was not as simple as he had thought.
His wife had once said that Straw Moth Ladies are the second type of Strange Monster: their bodies grow in the New Land, but their souls are not born there. Li Banfeng hadn’t quite understood it at first. Now, after hearing the Straw Moth Lady’s account, he felt he was beginning to grasp some of it.
At the mention of Bitter Cultivation, Ma Wu frowned. Bitter Cultivation was the sworn enemy of Lust Cultivation.
The Straw Moth Lady hastened to explain, "Little Brother, I know you don’t like that Taoist Sect. To be honest, neither do I."
Ma Wu asked, "If you don’t like it, why did you choose Bitter Cultivation?"
The Straw Moth Lady fell silent for a long time. The previously tender expression on her face now bore several shades of gloom. "These are things I intended never to bring up again."
Ma Wu pinched the Straw Moth Lady’s chubby cheek. "You can’t even talk about it with me?"
"Since Little Brother has asked, how could I dare not answer? When I was young and foolish, I met a deceitful man. I gave everything I could; he took everything he could. After using me up, he abandoned me. I came to feel that life in this world is destined to be suffering. After a little persuasion from others, I thought I’d seen through the mortal world and joined the Taoist Sect of Bitter Cultivation. As a Bitter Cultivator, you can’t talk about love or speak of affection. Even if you marry again, it’s just a compromise to get through life. You live in bitterness and cultivate in bitterness your whole life; there’s no pill for regret. After death, if a woman of Bitter Cultivation is content, she crosses the bridge to reincarnate. If she’s unreconciled, she goes to the New Land. There, a type of Bagworm Moth is born soulless. The souls of Bitter Cultivators can possess them and continue their cultivation."
Feeling pity, Ma Wu kissed the Straw Moth Lady. "After becoming a Straw Moth, do you still suffer?"
Li Banfeng snorted. "Considering how plump you are, you don’t seem to have suffered much."
Yanzi’s face turned red as she said, "Having died once, what’s there to fret about? Why should I continue suffering? Once a Straw Moth, I want to enjoy life to the fullest, do whatever I wish, eat whatever I desire, play to my heart’s content, find men whenever I want, and have children whenever I feel like it."
Ma Wu exclaimed with admiration, "Refreshing! I just love your straightforwardness!"
Li Banfeng said, "Shall I go somewhere else then, so you two can enjoy yourselves here?"
Ma Wu was hearty in response. "We’re brothers. I can still have a good time with you here!"
Yanzi kept shaking her head. "I really can’t do it today, Little Brother. Let me rest tonight, and we can try again tomorrow."
The night deepened. Yanzi retreated to the forest and lay down to sleep.
Li Banfeng said, "I’m thinking of making a trip to Greenwater City. Do you want to come back with me?"
Ma Wu shook his head. "I still want to cultivate in the New Land for a while longer. Tomorrow, I’ll send Xiao Genzi back to Blue Poplar Village to call some people over to tidy up our parcels of land, so we at least have a place to live."
"Can you manage on your own here?"
Ma Wu looked toward the distant, sleeping Yanzi, smiled, and didn’t say a word.